What Makes a Lie
by Swamp Fairy
Summary: How long did it take for her to stop looking? Little oneshot response to Vendetta. Claudia/Todd, Claudia/Fargo,  and hopefully we can agree on the better couple. T is for safety.


**A/N: Written as a response to Vendetta, because it was only like the worst episode ever aired. Todd? Really? I HATE Todd. They didn't have a single electron of chemistry. Fargo, on the other hand... such a pity he's on Eureka for good. And if you don't watch Eureka, you won't know about the minefield scene. I don't watch it either, but Claudia guest-starred in one episode, just like Fargo visited the Warehouse, so I checked it out. But seriously, you should watch at least that ep.**

She promised she'd look for him. She promised she'd find him. But she lied.

Or did she? If she meant it when she said it, and it was only later that she stopped meaning it, is it really a lie? No, she decided, she hadn't lied. And it was better that she didn't go after him. It was the only way he would move on. It had to be the right thing to do. Right? But she couldn't make herself believe it, and it cut her up inside, every day that went by without her googling his name, searching for his picture or any clues he might have left her. At first, she spent as much time as she could searching. Every free minute she had. She would be up until midnight every evening, until Kelly had left Pete's room, until Myka's reading light had gone off, until Lena had finished the dishes and Artie's snoring had built to earthquake level. The rest of the B&B would be dark and she would be up, blue glow of her labtop illuminating her face, simply because she needed him.

How strong is love, really? Or was she ever even in love? He loved her. But did she love him? Maybe she did. Maybe she loved him because, well, because he was _him_. Or maybe she loved him because she wanted to prove that she _could_ love in that way. But maybe, just maybe, it wasn't love at all. Maybe it was a different kind of need. She needed to be loved, and he gave that to her, so she gave something back to him. She didn't know which it was, or if it wasn't any of those, and it kept her tossing and turning at night, even after she had stopped looking.

And then he called. No, not Todd, or whatever his real name was. Fargo. Fargo called, and she lit up like she hadn't for days just hearing his voice. She immediately felt guilty because of it, but that day in the minefield just kept coming back to her. How Fargo had been able to make her laugh even when she knew they were going to be blown to bits if they moved at all, how he had been alright with it just because she was there with him. He was the only guy- okay, the only person- she'd ever met who had been truly able to match in her techno-skill, and he kissed nothing like Todd. Soft- okay, fine, timid. But it was cute how he let her make the first move.

But he called and said he _just happened _to be stopping in town, and would she like to meet up for coffee? And she'd known exactly what he wanted but said yes anyways. They didn't _do_ anything, honest. Just drank juice and swapped computer tips. And laughed. She laughed like she hadn't in ages. And when she'd returned to the Warehouse with color in her face, the others breathed a collective sigh of relief.

She'd forgotten to look for Todd that night.

And then he went back to Eureka and she was left as lonely as ever. But he came back. No matter that it was a several hour drive, he would be back every couple of weeks. When he was gone, she immersed herself in work or hung out with her team, and that was fine. Better than fine. She had a family, the one she'd missed all her life. But it was when Fargo was there that she was really complete. It helped that she could tell him the truth about her job- oh, screw it, it wasn't a job, it was her life.

It was't just about the truth, though. It was about how happy she felt with him, and how happy she knew she could be. How much she depended on him. And how much, despite her internal struggles, she felt herself coming dangerously close to tripping and falling head over heels for this guy. And then what would she do if she found Todd?

She had dreams, usually bad, several times a week about the guy who had first claimed her heart, but who she was now leaving behind. And better ones about the guy who refused to get out of her head. Two guys, one girl, and a tug of war neither knew they were playing- the recepie for broken hearts. Todd and Fargo, Fargo and Todd.

Where was Todd now? What was he doing? Had he found someone new, or was he waiting for her, wondering where she was? Would he come back someday? And if he did, where would she be? With Fargo, maybe, or someone new, though she couldn't even entertain the second possibility yet. Of course, she could be dead or crazy. That was always likely in the Warehouse.

But did it really matter, what happened later? What mattered was what happened here and now. And so she made her choice.

Google: Todd_

Google: Tod_

Google: To_

Google:T_

Google:_

**A/N: Fin. If anyone can tell me what regular position on another TV show Pete's girlfriend Kelly (the vetrinarian) held, you get a jumbo cyber-cookie. Now. I'm not going to beg you... yes I am. Pleasssssssse pleasssssssssse pleasssssssse pleassssssssse review!**


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